Multi-Channel Microphone

ABSTRACT

A microphone may digitize multiple analog audio channels into multiple digital audio channels, digitally process the digital audio channels, and output the digital audio channels to another device while maintaining channel separation. The microphone may also include a touch-sensitive user interface that may have multiple live meter modes and a user-selectable color theme.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 17/676,322, filed Feb. 21, 2022, which claimspriority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/152,262,filed Feb. 22, 2021, each of which is hereby incorporated by referencein its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

While a variety of microphones are available on the consumer market, itwould be desirable to have a microphone with additional features. Forexample, many existing microphones have connectors that are suitable foronly one purpose, and many existing microphones have limited flexibilityin manipulating a plurality of simultaneous audio channels. Theselimitations can limit the consumer.

SUMMARY

The following summary presents a simplified summary of certain features.The summary is not an extensive overview and is not intended to identifykey or critical elements.

Examples of a microphone, and methods for operating and implementing themicrophone, are described herein. The microphone may comprise any typeof microphone, such as but not limited to a unidirectional microphone, amultidirectional microphone, an omnidirectional microphone, a dynamicmicrophone, a cardioid dynamic microphone, a condenser microphone, or aMEMS microphone.

According to some aspects, the microphone may comprise multiple types ofsignal connectors, such as one or more USB connectors and/or one or moreXLR connectors, which may be usable with a variety of other devices(e.g., Apple Mac computers and portable devices, Windows PC computersand portable devices, Android devices, XLR mixers and interfaces, etc.).Any of the connectors may be used as an input connector, as an outputconnector, or configured to be switchable between being an input and anoutput connector. The user of the microphone may be able to convenientlyuse one or more of the connectors to expand the microphone to becomepart of a larger setup that uses multiple microphones. For example, theXLR connector of the microphone may be passive, and may be configuredsuch that a user can daisy chain the output from an XLR connector ofanother microphone into an XLR connector of the microphone. In such anarrangement, an output based on one or both of the microphones may beoutput through another connector of the microphone, such as a USBconnector.

According to further aspects, the microphone may have a first mode(configuration) in which a first connector (e.g., an XLR connector) isconfigured as an input connector. In this first mode, circuitry of themicrophone may selectively mix a signal (e.g., from another microphone)received via the input connector with a signal based on sound detectedby the microphone element of the microphone. The mixed signal may beoutput via a second connector (e.g., a USB connector). Alternatively,the signal received via the input connector and the signal based onsound detected by the microphone element of the microphone may beseparately output via the second connector. The microphone may also havea second mode (configuration) in which the first connector is configuredas an output connector. In this second mode, the microphone may outputvia the output connector a signal based on sound detected by themicrophone element of the microphone.

For example, the microphone may have a housing that comprises a firstconnection port and a second connection port. The housing may at leastpartially enclose a first microphone element, which is configured toproduce a first signal in response to sound. The microphone may furtherinclude circuitry that is also at least partially enclosed by thehousing. The circuitry may be configured to selectively switch betweenthe first mode or in the second mode. In the first mode, the circuitrymay provide a second signal, based on the first signal, to the firstconnection port. In the second mode, the circuitry may produce a thirdsignal based on the first signal and a fourth signal received via thefirst connection port. The circuitry may provide the third signal to thesecond connection port. Any of the first, second, third, and fourthsignals may be analog or digital signals.

According to further aspects, a microphone may comprise a microphoneelement and a housing, and the housing may comprise a first connectionport and a second connection port. The microphone may further comprise afirst preamplifier configured to generate an amplified first analogaudio signal based on sound received by the microphone element. Themicrophone may further comprise a first analog-to-digital converterconfigured to generate, based on the amplified first analog audiosignal, a first digital audio channel. The microphone may furthercomprise a second preamplifier configured to generate an amplifiedsecond analog audio signal based on an analog audio signal received viathe first connection port. The microphone may further comprise a secondanalog-to-digital converter configured to generate, based on theamplified second analog audio signal, a second digital audio channel.The microphone may further comprise a controller configured to processone or both of the first digital audio channel or the second digitalaudio channel, and to send, via the second connection port, the firstdigital audio channel and the second digital audio channel as separatechannels.

According to further aspects, a method may performed that comprisesgenerating, based on sound received by a microphone element of amicrophone, a first analog audio signal. The method may further comprisereceiving, via a first connection port of the microphone, a secondanalog audio signal, amplifying the first analog audio signal, andconverting the first analog audio signal to a first digital audiochannel. The method may further comprise amplifying the second analogaudio signal and converting the amplified second analog audio signal toa second digital audio channel. the method may further compriseprocessing one or both of the first digital audio channel or the seconddigital audio channel, and sending, via a second connection port of themicrophone, the first digital audio channel and the second digital audiochannel as separate channels.

These and other features and potential advantages are described ingreater detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some features are shown by way of example, and not by limitation, in theaccompanying drawings. In the drawings, like numerals reference similarelements.

FIG. 1 shows an example block diagram of microphone circuitry inaccordance with aspects described herein.

FIG. 2 shows an example of elements of the microphone of FIG. 1 that maybe controlled by the microphone's controller in accordance with aspectsdescribed herein.

FIGS. 3A-3F show example configurations of the microphone of FIG. 1 inaccordance with aspects described herein.

FIG. 4 shows another example block diagram of microphone circuitry inaccordance with aspects described herein.

FIG. 5 shows an example of elements of the microphone of FIG. 4 that maybe controlled by the microphone's controller in accordance with aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 6A is an example flowchart of a method that may be performed inaccordance with aspects described herein.

FIG. 6B is an example flowchart of another method that may be performedin accordance with aspects described herein.

FIG. 7 is a side view of an example microphone containing microphonecircuitry, such as the circuitry shown in FIG. 1, 4 , or 10 inaccordance with aspects described herein.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example system that includes amicrophone in accordance with aspects described herein.

FIG. 9 shows schematics of example circuitry that may be used todetermine whether a TRRS connector is connected to the microphone andwhether a TRS connector is connected to the microphone in accordancewith aspects described herein.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of example microphone circuitry inaccordance with aspects described herein.

FIGS. 11A and 11B show an example user interface that may be presentedby a device, such as the device 802, that may be connected to amicrophone, such as the microphone 700 or 1200, in accordance withaspects described herein.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an example microphone containingmicrophone circuitry, such as the circuitry shown in FIG. 1, 4 , or 10in accordance with aspects described herein.

FIG. 13A is an exploded top-down view of various layers of an exampleuser interface that may be part of any of the microphones describedherein, such as part of the microphones illustrated in FIG. 7 or 12 , inaccordance with aspects described herein.

FIG. 13B is an exploded side view of the layers of FIG. 13A inaccordance with aspects described herein.

FIG. 13C is a top-down view of the layers of FIGS. 13A and 13B asassembled into the example user interface in accordance with aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 14A illustrates example operation of the user interface of FIG. 13Cin a first live meter mode, referred to herein as “Mode A,” inaccordance with aspects described herein.

FIG. 14B illustrates example operation of the user interface of FIG. 13Cin a second live meter mode, referred to herein as “Mode B,” inaccordance with aspects described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, show examples ofthe disclosure. It is to be understood that the examples shown in thedrawings and/or discussed herein are non-exclusive and that there areother examples of how the disclosure may be practiced.

FIG. 1 shows an example block diagram of circuitry 100 that may be partof a microphone. Circuitry 100 may include a microphone cartridge 101that may include one or more microphone elements. The one or moremicrophone elements may be any type of one or more microphone elements,such as a dynamic element or a condenser element. Microphone cartridge101 may output in response to detected sound, via a circuit node 151, anelectrical signal representing the detected sound to a coder-decoder(codec) input 1 (element 105).

Circuitry 100 may also include at least one connector, such as an XLRconnection 103, that may provide an electrical signal to a codec input 2(element 106) received from an external device.

Circuitry 100 may also include a relay driver 102 and a relay 104, inwhich the relay driver 102 may be configured to selectively cause relay104 to switch between a first state and a second state. In the firststate, relay 104 may electrically disconnect circuit node 151 fromcircuit node 152 such that the electrical signal output by microphonecartridge 101 is received by codec input 1, but not by XLR connection103 or by codec input 2. In the first state, therefore, the output ofmicrophone cartridge 101 may be received by codec input 1 (and not bycodec input 2 and/or not by XLR connection 103), and a signal from XLRconnection 103 may be received by codec input 2. An example signal flowin the first state is shown in FIG. 3A. In the second state, relay 104may electrically connect circuit node 151 with circuit node 152, suchthat the electrical signal output by microphone cartridge 101 passesthrough relay 104 and is thus received not only by codec input 1, butalso by XLR connection 103 and/or codec input 2. Moreover, in the secondstate, XLR connection 103 may or may not still be connected with codecinput 2. An example signal flow in the second state is shown in FIG. 3B.

Codec input 1 and codec input 2 may be part of a same integrated device,such as a codec and/or digital signal processor (DSP) 180. Codec/DSP 180may also include a mixer 107, a multiplexer (MUX) 108, and/or aheadphone driver 109 (which may be connected to a headphone connection113 such as a 3.5 mm TRRS connector). Alternatively, one or more ofthese elements 105-109 may be part of a separate device (e.g., aseparate integrated circuit or other type of circuitry).

Circuitry 100 may also include at least one controller 110 such as amicrocontroller unit (MCU), which may be connected with a user interface112 and/or one or more physical connectors such as a universal serialbus (USB) connection 111.

Any portion of circuitry 100 may be implemented, for example, as one ormore programmable gate arrays (PGAs), one or more application-specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), one or more commercial off-the-shelfintegrated circuits, and/or any other types of circuitry. For example,codec/DSP 180 and/or controller 110 each may be implemented as one ormore PGAs chips, one or more ASICs, one or more processors, anon-transitory computer-readable medium such as one or more memoriesstoring instructions for execution by the one or more processors, etc.

In the shown example, codec input 1 may receive, via electrical node151, an electrical signal from microphone cartridge 101, such as ananalog electrical signal, that is generated in response to sounddetected by microphone cartridge 101. Codec input 1 may include ananalog-to-digital converter (ADC) that converts the received analogelectrical signal into a digital signal. The generated digital signalmay be forwarded, via electrical node 153, to mixer 107. The generateddigital signal from codec input 1 may also be forwarded, via electricalnode 154, to a first input of multiplexer 108 (in this example, input Bof multiplexer 108).

Similarly, in the shown example, codec input 2 may receive, viaelectrical node 152, an electrical signal from XLR connection 103 and/orfrom microphone cartridge 101, such as an analog electrical signal.Codec input 2 may also include an ADC (which may be the same ADC as forcodec input 1) that converts the analog electrical signal received bycodec input 2 into a digital signal. The digital signal produced inresponse to the analog signal received by codec input 2 may beforwarded, via electrical node 156, to a second input of mixer 107. Thegenerated digital signal from codec input 2 may also be forwarded, viaelectrical node 157, to another input of multiplexer 108 (in thisexample, input C of multiplexer 108).

Mixer 107 may be a digital mixer and may selectively mix the digitalsignals received via electrical nodes 153 and 156 to produce a digitalsignal that is provided to a third input of multiplexer 108 (in thisexample, input A of multiplexer 108) via an electrical node 155. Mixer107 may selectively mix the input digital signals in any of a pluralityof ways. For example, mixer 107 may generate the digital signal onelectrical node 155 to be based on any desired ratio of the two inputsignals on electrical nodes 153 and 156, such as mixing them at 50% each(50/50 ratio), or one at 25% and the other at 75% (25/75 or 75/25ratio), one at 10% and the other at 90% (10/90 or 90/10 ratio), or evenone at 0% and the other at 100% (a 0/100 or 100/0 ratio). These ratiosare merely examples, and any other values may be used. Thus, forexample, if mixer 107 is configured to mix the two inputs at a 50/50ratio, then the signal at electrical node 155 may be generated by mixingthe inputs at electrical nodes 153 and 156 using equal weighting. Or, ifmixer 107 is configured to mix the two inputs at a 25/75 ratio, then thesignal at electrical node 155 may be generated by mixing the inputs atelectrical nodes 153 and 156 in which one of the inputs is weighted at25% and the other of the inputs is weighted at 75%. Mixer 107 may be asingle-channel mixer or a multi-channel (e.g., stereo) mixer. In otherwords, where mixer 107 is a single-channel mixer, output node 155 maycarry only a single (mono) audio channel. Where mixer 107 is amulti-channel mixer, output node 155 may actually be two or morephysical electrical nodes each carrying a different one of the multiplechannels (e.g., a left audio channel and a right audio channel).

Multiplexer 108 may be configured to selectively multiplex any one ormore of a plurality of inputs (e.g., inputs A, B, and/or C) such thatthe signals received at any one or more of the inputs are selectivelyoutput by any one or more of a plurality of outputs (e.g., outputs Dand/or E). Where two outputs are used, outputs D and E may be consideredto be, respectively, a left audio channel and a right audio channel. Theleft and right audio channels may be sent, via electrical nodes 158 and159, to inputs of controller 110 and/or to inputs of headphone driver109. Multiplexer 108 may or may not be included in circuitry 100. Wheremultiplexer 108 is not included, the output (node 155) of mixer 107 maybe connected directly to node 158 and/or node 159. For example, wheremixer 107 is a stereo mixer, node 155 may actually be two physicalelectrical nodes, one of which is connected to node 158 (e.g., leftaudio channel) and the other of which is connected to node 159 (e.g.,right audio channel), with or without an intervening multiplexer 108making the connections.

User interface 112 may include any one or more devices with which theuser of the microphone may interact. For example, user interface 112 mayinclude one or more buttons, switches, sliders, and/or touch sensors.User interface 112 may also include one or more drivers that interfacewith controller 110 so that user inputs via user interface 112 may becommunicated as signals to controller 110. User interface 112 may be atleast partially accessible by the user from outside a body (e.g.,housing) of the microphone. User interface 112 may also provideinformation to the user, such as in the form of a display, one or morelights (e.g., light-emitting diodes), and/or a haptic feedback motor.The information provided to the user via user interface 112 may becontrolled by controller 110.

Codec/DSP 180 may also comprise circuitry for processing audio, forexample one or more equalizers such as a high pass/presence boostequalizer and/or a mode equalizer, a de-esser, a bass equalizer such asa bass tamer (which may be used to reduce the proximity effect), alimiter, a compressor, and/or an automatic level control (ALC). Thisdigital signal processing functionality is schematically indicated inFIG. 1 as DSP 120. DSP 120 may be connected anywhere in the audio signalchain. For example, DSP 120 may perform digital signal processing onaudio signals in any one or more of nodes 153-159.

Referring to FIG. 2 , controller 110 may control, and/or communicateuni-directionally or bi-directionally with, one or more elements ofcircuitry 100, as indicated by the arrows connecting controller 110 withrelay driver 102, mixer 107, multiplexer 108, and user interface 112.For example, controller 110 may send a relay control signal to relaydriver 102 indicating, or otherwise being associated with, which staterelay 104 should be in, thereby controlling whether relay 104 is in theabove-described first state or second state. In response to the relaycontrol signal, relay driver 102 may control relay 104 to be in thefirst state or the second state, such as by selectively applying anappropriate current to relay 104 to cause a circuit within relay 104 toclose or open, thereby connecting or disconnecting node 151 with node152. Controller 110 may further send a mix mode control signal to mixer107 indicating a mix mode. For example, the mix mode control signal mayidentify, or otherwise be associated with, a particular mixing ratiobetween the signals that mixer 107 receives from codec 1 and codec 2.Mixer 107 may adjust the mixing mode in accordance with the mix controlsignal. Controller 110 may also send a MUX control signal to multiplexor108 that indicates, or otherwise is associated with, a particularmultiplexing mode. Multiplexor 108 may apply the multiplexing mode basedon the MUX control signal. For example, the MUX control signal mayindicate that input A of multiplexor 108 is to be connected to outputs Dand E. Or, for example, the MUX control signal may indicate that input Bis to be connected to output E and input C is to be connected to outputE. MUX control signal may indicate any multiplexor input/outputconnections as desired. Some examples of multiplexor input/outputconnections are described below with reference to FIGS. 3C-3E.

Controller 110 may send any of the mix control signal, the relay controlsignal, and/or the MUX control signal based on a user input receivedfrom user interface 112. Controller 110 may additionally oralternatively send any of the mix control signal, the relay controlsignal, and/or the MUX control signal based on an algorithm executed bycontroller 110, either based on or independent from any user inputsreceived from user interface 112. For example, controller 110 maycomprise one or more processors 201. Controller 110 may further comprisestorage 202, which may comprise a non-transitory computer-readablemedium, such as one or more memories, that stores instructions forperforming the algorithm in order to perform any of the functionsdescribed herein attributed to controller 110. The one or moreprocessors 201 may execute the stored instructions to perform thesefunctions. In further examples, some or all of the functionality ofcontroller 110 may be additionally or alternatively implemented ashard-wired circuitry and/or as firmware.

FIG. 3A shows an example configuration of circuitry 100, in which relay104 is in the above-described first state, such that relay 104 does notelectrically connect node 151 with node 152. As indicated in FIG. 3A bythe thicker arrows, a signal from microphone cartridge 101 may bereceived by codec input 1, and a signal from XLR connection 103 may bereceived by codec input 2. In this first state, XLR connection 103 mayact as an input connection that receives signals from an external deviceconnected to circuitry 100 via XLR connection 103. Relay 104, and anyother circuitry as desired, may be configured to achieve the first statein response to one or more control signals received by controller 110.For example, controller 110 may send a relay control signal to relaydriver 102 (such as shown in FIG. 2 ), which in response may cause relay104 to switch to the first state (e.g., by opening relay 104).

FIG. 3B shows an example configuration of circuitry 100, in which relay104 is in the above-described second state, such that relay 104electrically connects node 151 with node 152. As indicated in FIG. 3B bythe thicker arrows, a signal from microphone cartridge 101 may bereceived by codec input 1, by codec input 2, and by XLR connection 103.In this second state, XLR connection 103 may act as an output connectionthat sends signals from microphone cartridge 101 to an external deviceconnected to circuitry 100 via XLR connection 103. Relay 104, and anyother circuitry as desired, may be configured to achieve the secondstate in response to one or more control signals received by controller110. For example, controller 110 may send a relay control signal torelay driver 102 (such as shown in FIG. 2 ), which in response may causerelay 104 to switch from the first state to the second state (e.g., byclosing relay 104) or from the second state to the first state (e.g., byopening relay 104). As another example, the second state may be thedefault unpowered state of relay 104, which may allow microphonecartridge 101 to function as a passive microphone outputting to XLRconnector 103 (and/or any other desired connector) when circuitry 100 isunpowered. For example, relay 104 may be a normally-closed (NC) relay,and may comprise a spring that biases a switch contact point withinrelay 104 to be in the closed (second) state by default when unpoweredby relay driver 102. Circuitry 100 may be selectively switched back andforth, as desired, between the first state (such as in FIG. 3A) and thesecond state (such as in FIG. 3B).

FIGS. 3C-3F show various example configurations of Codec/DSP 180, inwhich mixer 107 and multiplexer 108 are configured in various ways tocombine and multiplex audio signals from codec input 1 and codec input2. In particular, FIG. 3C shows an example configuration in which mixer107 is configured to combine audio signals from codec input 1 and codecinput 2 to produce a signal at node 155 that is provided to input A ofmultiplexer 108. In such a configuration, the audio signals from codecs1 and 2 (which may be digital audio signals) may be combined togetherusing any algorithm and using any weights. For example, the signaloutput by mixer 107 at node 155 may be a weighted average of the audiosignals from codec inputs 1 and 2, according to the followingrelationship: MixOut=X*Codec1+Y*Codec2, where MixOut is the audio signaloutput by the mixer 107 at node 155, Codec1 is the audio signal providedby codec input 1 at node 153, Codec2 is the audio signal provided bycodec input 2 at node 156, and X and Y are any desired amplitude valuesin the range of from zero to one, inclusive, to achieve a desired mixingratio (e.g., a mixing ratio of X/Y or Y/X). Where the audio signals aredigitally encoded, the actual combining algorithm implanted may take theencoding into account to mix the two signals in the desired mixingratio. FIG. 3C also shows an example configuration of multiplexer 108 inwhich input A is multiplexed to (e.g., distributed to) both output D andoutput E (as indicated by the lines conceptually showing connectionsfrom input A to outputs D and E). In such a configuration, where outputsD and E respectively correspond to left and right audio channels, theaudio output by multiplexer 108 may be in mono mode in which both leftand right audio channels are identical.

FIG. 3D shows another example configuration in which mixer 107 isbypassed and instead codec input 1 and codec input 2 are directlyprovide to inputs B and C, respectively, of multiplexer 108. In thisparticular configuration codec input 1 may provide audio for the leftaudio channel (at output D/node 158) and codec input 2 may provide audiofor the right audio channel (at output D/node 159).

FIG. 3E shows another example configuration in which mixer 107 mixesaudio signals received from codec input 1 and codec input 2 (which maybe mixed, for example, in the manner described above for FIG. 3C) andoutputs the resulting mixed signal into multiplexer input A. This mixedaudio signal may be passed through to output D of multiplexer 108 (e.g.,as the left audio channel). At the same time, the audio signal fromcodec input 2 may also be provided to multiplexer input C, which may bepassed to multiplexer output E (e.g., as the right audio channel).

FIG. 3F shows another example configuration in which mixer 107 mixesaudio signals received from codec input 1 and codec input 2 (which maybe mixed, for example, in the manner described above for FIG. 3C) andoutputs the resulting mixed signal into multiplexer input A. This mixedaudio signal may be passed through to output D of multiplexer 108 (e.g.,the left audio channel). At the same time, the audio signal from codecinput 1 (via node 154) may also be provided to another multiplexer inputB, which may be passed to another multiplexer output E (e.g., as theright audio channel). Alternatively, at the same time that signals arebeing mixed by mixer 107, the audio signal from codec input 2 (via node157) may be provided to another multiplexer input B, which may be passedto multiplexer output E (e.g., as the right audio channel).

FIGS. 3C-3F indicate only a subset of the possible configurations ofCodec/DSP 180 and are not intended to be limiting. Codec input 1 105,codec input 2 106, mixer 107, and multiplexer 108 may be configured toprovide any desired interconnections amongst these elements, and toachieve any desired mixing of audio signals therein, as desired.Moreover, any configuration of Codec/DSP 180 may be combined with anyconfiguration of other portions of circuitry 100. For example, relay 104may be in either state (as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B) in combination withany of the configurations of Codec/DSP 180, to achieve a desired set ofaudio inputs, audio outputs, and mixing and multiplexing thereof.

FIG. 4 shows another example block diagram of circuitry 400 that may bepart of a microphone. Circuitry 400 may comprise one or more of theelements of circuitry 100 (FIG. 1 ), for example microphone cartridge101, relay driver 102, XLR connector 103, relay 104, codec input 1 105,codec input 2 106, headphone driver 109, controller 110, USB connector111, user interface 112, and/or headphones connector 113. Each of theseelements may operate in the same way, or in substantially the same way,as described above with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3A-3F.

Circuitry 400 may further comprise a Codec/DSP 480, which may be, forexample, Codec/DSP 180 configured in a different way. Codec/DSP 480 maycomprise one or more codec inputs in addition to codec input 1 and codecinput 2. For example, codec/DSP 480 may comprise four codec inputs, fivecodec inputs, six codec inputs, or more. In the shown example, codec/DSP480 comprises four codec inputs: codec input 1 105, codec input 2 106,codec input 3 404, and codec input 4 405.

XLR connector 103 may be part of a combo (combination) jack 402 alongwith another type of connector such as a quarter-inch tip-ring-sleeve(“TRS”) connector 401. Where headphone connection 113 comprises a TRRSconnector, the tip node of TRS connector 401 may provide an input tocodec input 3, and the ring node of TRS connector 401 and the sleevenode of TRRS connector 113 may selectively provide an input to codecinput 4, depending upon the state of a switch 403. In a first state ofswitch 403, the ring node of TRS connector 401 may connect to codecinput 4, and in a second state of switch 403, the sleeve node of TRRSconnector 113 may connect to codec input 4. The state of switch 403 maybe controlled by controller 110 based on which type of connector isproviding an input signal, i.e., based on whether controller 110 detectsthe presence of a quarter-inch TRS input or a 3.5 mm TRRS configuredinput (via 3.5 mm TRRS headphones connector 113). The 3.5 mm connectorand the quarter-inch connector may be independent to each other and maybe populated at the same time. These type of connectors often havemechanical switches to indicate that a connector is inserted. Combo jack402 may be an XLR quarter-inch combo jack in which, for example, eitheran XLR connector or a quarter-inch connector can be populated at once.

For simplicity and ease of viewing, FIG. 4 schematically representscertain stereo audio signals or nodes as a single line, such as stereomix 455, stereo mix 456, stereo mix 457, and host audio 458. Each ofthese stereo mixes may comprise two audio channels: a left channel and aright channel. The host audio signal (line 458) may be generated bycontroller 110 based on signals received via nodes 160 and 161 and viaUSB connector 111 from another device.

Codec/DSP 180 may also include a mixer and/or a multiplexer, similar toelements 107 and 108 in FIG. 1 . For example, FIG. 4 shows a mixer 407,which may be, or may be similar to, mixer 107. While a multiplexer isnot explicitly shown in FIG. 4 (for simplicity and ease of viewing),mixer 407 may comprise both a mixer function and a multiplexer function,such as the same type of multiplexing as performed by MUX 108.

Like mixer 107, mixer 407 may comprise a digital mixer and mayselectively mix the digital signals received via electrical nodes/lines451, 452, 453, 454, and/or 458 to produce one or more digital signals(e.g., stereo mixes via lines 455 and/or 456). Mixer 407 may selectivelymix the input digital signals in any of a plurality of ways. Forexample, mixer 407 may generate an output digital signal to be based onany desired ratio of the two or more input signals, such as mixing themin some specific ratio (e.g., a 50/50 ratio or a 25/75 ratio for twoinput signals, or a 25/25/50 ratio or a 40/35/25 ratio for three inputsignals). These ratios are merely examples, and any other values from 0%to 100% may be used.

Thus, mixer 407 may receive any one or more audio signals via any one ormore of nodes/lines 451-454 and/or 458, mix and/or otherwise combinethem as desired, and output one or more resulting audio signals vianodes/lines 455 and/or 456. For example, mixer 407 may provide a leftchannel of a stereo mix based on any one of the codec inputs (e.g.,codec input 1) and a right channel of the stereo mix based on any otherof the codec inputs (e.g., code input 3). As another non-limitingexample, mixer 407 may provide a left channel a stereo mix based on anytwo or more of the codec inputs (e.g., codec input 1 mixed in a firstway with codec input 3) and a right channel of the stereo mix based onany one or more of the codec inputs (e.g., code input 2 mixed in asecond way with codec input 3). In these examples or in any otherconfiguration, the left and/or right channels produced by mixer 407 maybe additionally or alternatively based on the host audio (line 458)received from controller 110. Thus, the stereo mix generated by mixer407 may be based on any one or more of the codec inputs 1-4 and/or basedon the host audio (line 458) provided by an external device via USBconnector 111.

If a multiplexer were schematically shown as separate from mixer 407 inFIG. 4 , such a multiplexer may be schematically shown as having two ormore inputs that receive outputs from any or all of codecs 1-4, fromhost audio (line 458), and/or that receives any other desiredintermediary signals generated by mixer 407. Such a multiplexer may alsobe schematically shown as being configured to selectively multiplex anyof those inputs in any combination or subcombination to produce one ormore outputs, which may be output to stereo mixes in lines 455 and/or456.

Codec/DSP 480 may also comprise DSP 120. DSP 120 may be connectedanywhere in the audio signal chain. For example, DSP 120 may performdigital signal processing on audio signals in any one or more ofnodes/lines 451-456 and/or 458.

Like circuitry 100, any portion of circuitry 400 may be implemented, forexample, as one or more PGAs, one or more ASICs, one or more commercialoff-the-shelf integrated circuits, and/or any other types of circuitry.For example codec/DSP 480 and/or controller 110 each may be implementedas an integrated circuit chip.

Referring to FIG. 5 , controller 110 may control, and/or communicateuni-directionally or bi-directionally with, one or more elements ofcircuitry 400, as indicated by the arrows connecting controller 110 withrelay driver 102, mixer 407, switch 403, and user interface 112. Aspreviously discussed with regard to circuitry 100, controller 110 aspart of circuitry 400 may send a relay control signal to relay driver102 indicating, or otherwise being associated with, which state relay104 should be in, thereby controlling whether relay 104 is in theabove-described first state or second state. In response to the relaycontrol signal, relay driver 102 may control relay 104 to be in thefirst state or the second state, such as by selectively applying anappropriate voltage to relay 104 to cause a circuit within relay 104 toclose or open, thereby connecting or disconnecting node 151 with node152. Controller 110 may further send a mix mode control signal to mixer407 indicating a mix mode and/or a multiplexing configuration. Forexample, the mix mode control signal may identify, or otherwise beassociated with, a particular mixing ratio between the signals thatmixer 407 receives from codec 1, codec 2, codec 3, codec 4, and/or hostaudio (via line 458). Mixer 407 may adjust the mixing mode in accordancewith the mix control signal. Mix control signal may also indicate amultiplexing mode that indicates, or is otherwise associated with, whichsignals received by mixer 407 and/or generated by mixer 407 are to bemultiplexed, and how they are to be multiplexed prior to outputting asstereo mixes 455 and/or 456. Mixer 407 may apply the multiplexing modebased on the mix control signal. For example, the mix control signal mayindicate that one or more particular inputs of the multiplexing portionof mixer 407 is to be connected with one or more outputs of mixer 407.

Controller 110 may further determine which type of connector is pluggedinto combo jack 402. For example, circuitry 400 may receive a connectionsense signal that is indicative of whether combo jack 402 is receiving aquarter-inch TRS connector or headphone connection 113 is receiving a3.5 mm TRRS connector from an external device. The connection sensesignal may comprise one or more signals actively received from theexternal device via the sleeve or tip nodes, and/or it may be one ormore separately generated signals such as from a sensor that physicallysenses the type of connector being plugged in. For example, FIG. 9 showsschematics of example circuitry that may be used by controller 110 toindicate whether a TRRS connector is inserted or a TRRS connector isinserted. A similar principle may be used for determining whether theinserted quarter-inch connector is a TRS connector or a TS connector.The voltage at the “sleeve” pin of 3.5 mm TRRS or “ring” of thequarter-inch jack may be measured via, for example, a comparator orother voltage sensing circuitry. The output(s) of the comparator(s)and/or other voltage sensing circuitry may constitute the connectionsense signal made available to controller 110. The circuitry of FIG. 9may be part of controller 110 or separate from (and connected to)controller 110.

Based on which type of connector is determined to be plugged in,controller 110 may control (e.g., by sending a switch control signal to)switch 403 to be in a first state or a second state. If controller 110determines that a quarter-inch TRS connector is connected, thencontroller 110 may control switch 403 to switch to a first state thatconnects the ring node of combo jack 402 to codec input 4. If controller110 determines that a 3.5 mm TRRS connector is connected, thencontroller 110 may control switch 403 to switch to a second state thatconnects the sleeve node of TRRS connector 113 to codec input 4.Alternatively, switch 403 may be controlled by controller 110 based on auser input via user interface 112.

In general, controller 110 may send any of the mix control signal, therelay control signal, and/or the switch control signal based on a userinput received from user interface 112. controller 110 may additionallyor alternatively send any of the mix control signal, the relay controlsignal, and/or the MUX control signal based on an algorithm executed bycontroller 110, either based on or independent from any user inputsreceived from user interface 112. As described previously with respectto FIG. 2 , the algorithm may be implemented as hardwired circuitry,firmware, and/or by executing instructions stored in a computer-readablemedium.

FIG. 6A is an example flowchart of a method that may be performed whilea microphone that comprises circuitry 100 or circuitry 400 is inoperation. In the following description, it will be assumed by way ofexample that each step is performed by controller 110 as part ofcircuitry 100 or circuitry 400. However, any or all of the steps may beperformed by any other portion of circuitry 100 or circuitry 400, suchas by codec/DSP 180 or codec/DSP 480. While the method illustrated inFIG. 6A shows particular steps in a particular order, the method may befurther subdivided into additional sub-steps, steps may be combined, andthe steps may be performed in another order without necessarilydeviating from the concepts described herein.

At step 601, controller 110 may receive an instruction. The instructionmay be generated by, for example, the user interface 112 in response toa user input. Or, the instruction may be generated internally bycontroller 110. Or, the instruction may be received via USB connector111 and generated by another device connected to the microphone via USBconnector 111 (such as device 802 in FIG. 8 ). The instruction mayidentify or otherwise be associated with a particular configuration ofthe microphone. For example, the user may operate user interface 112 ofthe microphone, or operate a user interface of the USB-connected device,to select a particular microphone configuration. The microphoneconfiguration may indicate or otherwise be associated with a particularstate of relay 104, a particular mixing configuration of mixer 107,and/or a particular multiplexing configuration of multiplexer 108 (forcircuitry 100), or with a particular state of relay 104 and/or aparticular mixing and/or multiplexing configuration of mixer 407 (forcircuitry 400). The configuration indicated by or otherwise associatedwith the instruction may, for example, be one of the configurationsdescribed herein with respect to any of FIGS. 3A-3F. However, any otherconfigurations of any of the elements of circuitry 100 or circuitry 400may be indicated or otherwise associated with the instruction.

The instruction may explicitly identify the configuration(s) of thevarious elements, such as by explicitly identifying a relay state, amixer configuration (e.g., mix codec input 1 with codec input 2 at a50/50 ratio), and/or a multiplexer configuration (e.g., connect one ormore particular inputs of the multiplexer to one or more particularoutputs of the multiplexer). Or, the instruction may identify aconfiguration using shorthand, such as with an index identifier. Forexample, a first configuration may be assigned a particularConfiguration value (e.g., a first configuration may be assignedConfigurationID=1, a second configuration may be assignedConfigurationID=2, etc.). Each ConfigurationID value may be associated(e.g., in a look-up table by controller 110, stored in storage 202) withthe details of the associated configuration. In such a case, controller110 would use the ConfigurationID value and the look-up table todetermine the configuration of each elements of circuitry 100 orcircuitry 400, and then use that configuration to control theconfiguration of each of the elements. An example of the type ofinformation stored in the look-up table may be as shown in Table 1below. The “Relay 104” column may or may not be part of the table.

TABLE 1 Example Look-Up Table mixer 407 (or mixer 107 ConfigurationIDRelay 104 and multiplexer 108) 1 open left channel: mix of codec input 1and codec input 2 at 40/60 ratio. right channel: only codec channel 3,no mix. 2 open left channel: codec input 1, no mix. right channel: codecinput 2, no mix. 3 open . . . . . . closed . . .

In some cases, the instruction may or may not indicate whether an XLRinput is requested and/or whether a TRS connector or a TRRS connector isused. In such cases where the instruction does not identify these,controller 110 may be able to separately ascertain these by sendingwhether voltages are present on the respective connector types todetermine which connectors are plugged in.

At step 602, controller 110 may determine, based on the instructionand/or based on a separate sensing (e.g., of connector voltages) whetheran XLR input is requested, in other words, whether XLR connection 103 isto be used as an input or an output. If XLR connection 103 is to be usedas an input, then at step 603, controller 110 controls relay driver 102to open relay 104 (if it is not already open) to produce an open circuitstate between nodes 151 and 152, such as illustrated in FIG. 3A. If XLRconnection 103 is not to be used as an input (e.g., is to be used as anoutput), then at step 604, controller 110 controls relay driver 102 toclose relay 104 (if it is not already closed) to produce a closedcircuit state between nodes 151 and 152, such as illustrated in FIG. 3B.Steps 601-604 are applicable to both examples of circuitry 100 andcircuitry 400, and thus may be performed while using either circuitry.

At step 605, controller 110 may determine, based on the instructionand/or based on a separate sensing (e.g., of connector voltages), aparticular type of connector(s) that is/are connected to the microphone.For example, controller 110 may determine whether a TRS connector or aTRRS connector is connected to headphone connection 113. If controller110 determines that a TRS connector is connected, then at step 606,controller 110 may cause switch 403 to connect the ring node of combojack 402 to codec input 4. If controller 110 determines that a TRSconnector is connected, then at step 607, controller 110 may causeswitch 403 to connect the sleeve node of headphone connection 113 tocodec input 4. While steps 605-607 are shown as being performed aftersteps 602-604, steps 605-607 may be performed before steps 602-604and/or in parallel with steps 602-604. Also, steps 605-607 may beskipped, such as where circuitry 100 is used and/or where no switch 403or combo jack 402 is used.

At step 608, controller 100 may send signals to mixer 107 and/ormultiplexer 108 (for circuitry 100) or to mixer 407 (for circuitry 400)that cause these elements to attain the desired respectiveconfigurations indicated by or otherwise associated with the instructionof step 601.

FIG. 6B is an example flowchart of another method that may be performedwhile a microphone that comprises circuitry, such as circuitry 400, isin operation. In the following description, it will be assumed by way ofexample that each step is performed by controller 110 as part ofcircuitry 400. However, any or all of the steps may be performed by anyother portion of circuitry 400, such as by codec/DSP 480. While themethod illustrated in FIG. 6B shows particular steps in a particularorder, the method may be further subdivided into additional sub-steps,steps may be combined, and the steps may be performed in another orderwithout necessarily deviating from the concepts described herein. Incertain steps, it is determined whether a particular connector has beeninserted. This may be determined based on electrical currents and/orvoltages sensed using conventional current sensor circuitry and/orvoltage sensor circuitry (which may generate the above-mentionedconnection sense signal) that may be part of controller 110 or incommunication with controller 110.

At step 651, it may be determined whether a quarter-inch connector hasbeen inserted. if so, then it may be determined at step 652 that codecinput 3 404 is connected to a quarter-inch tip, and it may be furtherdetermined at step 653 whether the inserted quarter-inch connector is aTRS (stereo) or a TS (mono) connector. If it is determined that theinserted connector is a TRS connector, then it may be determined at step654 that codec input 4 405 is connected to a quarter-inch ring of theinserted connector. On the other hand, if it is determined that theinserted connector is a TS connector, then it may be determined at step655 whether a 3.5 mm connector is inserted. If it is determined that a3.5 mm connector is inserted, then at step 656 it may be determinedwhether the inserted connector is a 3.5 mm TRRS connector. If it isdetermined that the inserted connector is a 3.5 mm TRRS connector, thenit may be determined at step 657 that the codec input 4 405 is connectedto a 3.5 mm sleeve. If it is determined that a 3.5 mm connector is notinserted, then it may be determined at step 658 that codec input 4 405is unused. Controller 110 may store data (such as in storage 102)indicating the connection status of any of the codec inputs 1-4. Basedon this stored data, controller 110 may cause any element of CODEC/DSP480, such as mixer 407, to be configured in a particular manner. Forexample, if it is determined at step 658 that codec input 4 is unused,then controller 110 may configure mixer 407 to ignore (and not mix in)any signals received from codec input 4 via line 454. Or, for example,if it is determined at steps 652 and 654 that codec input 3 is connectedto a quarter-inch TRS connector's tip and that codec input 4 isconnected to the quarter-inch TRS connector's ring, then controller 110may configured mixer 407 to treat the signal from codec input 3 as aleft audio channel and the signal from codec input 4 as a right audiochannel (or vice-versa). For example, mixer 407 may be configured not tomix (and to keep on separate audio channels) the audio from codec input3 with the audio from codec input 4.

FIG. 7 is a side view of an example microphone 700 containing microphonecircuitry such as circuitry 100 or circuitry 400 shown in FIG. 1 or 4 .Microphone 700 may comprise a body 701, which may house one or moreother components of microphone 700, such as circuitry 100 or circuitry400. Microphone 700 may further include a windscreen 702 coveringmicrophone cartridge 101. User interface 112 may be disposed on and/orin body 701 so as to be at least partially accessible by a user ofmicrophone 700.

Body 701 may have one or more connectors, such as connectors 703 a, 703b, and/or 703 c, which may selectively connect, respectively, to one ormore cables such as cables 704 a, 704 b, and/or 704 c that themselveshave compatible connectors. While three connectors are shown, there maybe any number of connectors included. The connectors (genericallyreferred to herein as one or more connectors 703) may be, for example,one or more universal serial bus (USB) connectors, one or more XLRconnectors, one or more power connectors, one or more TRS connectors,one or more TRRS connectors, one or more combo jacks, and/or any othertype of data and/or power connectors suitable for transporting signalssuch as power, digital data (including digital audio signals), and/oranalog audio signals to and from the circuitry of microphone 700. Forexample, any of connectors 703 may be XLR connector 103, USB connector111, combo jack 402, quarter-inch TRS connector 401, and/or headphonesconnector 113 (e.g., a 3.5 mm TRRS connector).

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example system that includes microphone700. In the shown example, microphone 700 or microphone 1200 (FIG. 12 )may be connected to one or more other devices, such as device 801 and/ordevice 802. Device 801 may be connected with microphone 700 or 1200 via,for example, XLR connector 103. Device 802 may be connected withmicrophone 700 or 1200 via, for example, USB connector 111. Microphone700 or 1200 may also be connected to headphones 803, such as via TRRSheadphones connector 113 or TRS connector 401.

Devices 801 and 802 each may be any type of device capable of sendingand/or receiving audio signals and/or data signals, such as anothermicrophone, an audio source, a speaker, a mixer, an audio recordingdevice, or a computer such as a smart phone or laptop computer, etc. Inone example, device 801 may be another microphone that provides audiosignals into XLR connector 103, and device 802 may be a smart phone thatprovides a user interface allowing a user to select a configuration ofmicrophone 700 or 1200. The selected configuration may cause XLRconnector 103 may be used as an input connector and cause audio signalsprovided by device (microphone) 801 to be mixed in a particular way withaudio picked up by microphone cartridge 101 of microphone 700 or 1200.The resulting mixed audio signals may be output to headphone 803 and/oroutput to device (smart phone) 802 via USB connector 111. In otherexamples, device 801 may be an audio recording device or a speaker (oreven another microphone similar or identical to microphone 700 or 1200),in which case the configuration selected via device (smart phone) 802may cause XLR connector 103 to be used as an output connector and causeaudio signals generated by microphone cartridge 101 to be output todevice 801 (and also to be received by codec input 2 of microphone 700or 1200).

Thus, the XLR connector (which may be passive) of microphone 700 or 1200may be used as either an input connector or as an output connector to bedaisy chained with the XLR connector of the other device such as anothermicrophone. Accordingly, the user of the microphone may be able toconveniently use one or more of the connectors of microphone 700 or 1200to expand the microphone 700 or 1200 to become part of a larger setupthat uses a plurality of microphones. For example, audio signals fromtwo or more separate, non-co-located microphones may be mixed and thenoutput via a single USB connection. One of the microphone's signals maybe generated by microphone cartridge 101 integral to microphone 700 or1200, and another of the microphone's signals may be generated by anexternal microphone such as device 801.

Moreover, because a switchable XLR connector 103 may be used, such anXLR connector may function as an analog output in a standalone mode ofmicrophone 700 or 1200, yet when placed into a mix mode, XLR connector103 may function as a discrete analog input into the digital signalchain of circuitry 100 or circuitry 400, thereby producing two discreteoutput digital channels (e.g., left and right stereo channels) via USBconnector 111 to another device such as device 802. This may be usefulfor, e.g., a mobile two-channel podcasting setup, as well as any othertwo (or other multi-) channel recording setups for personal use (e.g.,in a vocalist/guitar arrangement or a vocal duet arrangement).

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of another example microphone circuitry1000. The microphone circuitry 1000 may be used in any microphone, suchas in the microphones described herein with respect to FIG. 7 or FIG. 12. The microphone circuitry 1000 may include the microphone cartridge101, the XLR connector 103 and the quarter-inch TRS connector 401 (whichmay be combined into the combo jack 402), the USB connector 111, and/orthe 3.5 mm TRRS headphones connector 113, each of which have alreadybeen described herein. The microphone circuitry 1000 may further includeone or more discrete preamplifiers, such as a preamplifier 1001 and apreamplifier 1002. The microphone circuitry 1000 may further include aninstrument buffer 1003, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 1004, amicrocontroller unit (MCU) 1005 or other type(s) of processor(s), and/ora coder-decoder (CODEC) 1006.

The MCU 1005 may further include a digital signal processor (DSP), orthe DSP may be implemented separately from the MCU 1005. While an MCU isshown in FIG. 10 , any one or more other type(s) of processor(s) may beused in place of the MCU 1005. The MCU 1005 may be responsible forcontrolling (e.g., coordinating) the operations of any of the otherelements of the microphone circuitry 1000. For example, the MCU 1005 maycontrol operation of the user interface 112, interpret user input to theuser interface 112, and/or control output by the user interface 112. Asanother example, the MCU 1005 may control the operation of the ADC 1004and/or of the CODEC 1006. As a further example, the MCU 1005 mayimplement USB communication protocols via the USB connector 111 toensure that data is properly transmitted and/or received via the USBconnector 111. While certain connections amongst the elements of themicrophone circuitry 1000 are depicted with arrow in FIG. 10 , theseconnections are only examples and may be physically and/or logicallyimplemented differently. For example, any or all of the elements of themicrophone circuitry 1000 may be interconnected via a shared data bus.Also, each of the arrows in FIG. 10 may represent audio signals (analogand/or digital) and/or data other than audio such as control data.Moreover, any audio transmission between elements of FIG. 10 , asrepresented by the arrows, may be single-channel audio ormultiple-channel (e.g., dual, for example left/right) audio.

The MCU 1005 may comprise storage (e.g., the same as the storage 202described previously), which may comprise a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium, such as one or more memories, that storesinstructions for performing the algorithm in order to perform any of thefunctions described herein attributed to the MCU 1005. The MCU 1005 mayexecute the stored instructions to perform these functions. In furtherexamples, some or all of the functionality of the MCU 1005 may beadditionally or alternatively implemented as hard-wired circuitry and/oras firmware.

The preamplifier 1001 and the preamplifier 1002 may have differentconfigurations from each other and may be separate components from eachother. For example, the preamplifier 1001 may be a first discretepreamplifier with an analog input connected to the microphone cartridge101 and that has a first input impedance matched to the output impedanceof the microphone cartridge 101, whereas the preamplifier 1002 may be asecond discrete preamplifier with an analog input connected to the XLRconnector 103 and that has a second input impedance that may bedifferent from the first input impedance.

The instrument buffer 1003 may be implemented as a further preamplifier,such as a discrete preamplifier, connected to the quarter-inch TRSconnector 401. The instrument buffer 1003 may have an analog input,connected to the quarter-inch TRS connector 401, that may have a thirdimpedance appropriate for electric musical instruments such as electricguitars that may be plugged into the quarter-inch TRS connector 401. Forexample, the third impedance may be a higher impedance than the firstimpedance and/or the second impedance. When an external device (forexample, a musical instrument, another microphone, a mixer, a wirelessreceiver, or some other analog audio source) is plugged into the combojack 402, the appropriate preamplifier (preamplifier 1002 or instrumentbuffer 1003) is used to amplify the analog signal received from theexternal device. For example, where the external device (e.g., amicrophone) having an output XLR connector (e.g., a male XLR connector)that is plugged into the XLR connector 103 (which may be, e.g., a femaleXLR connector) portion of the combo jack 402, the analog audio signalfrom the external device may be received via the “MIC In” line by thepreamplifier 1002. On the other hand, where the external device (e.g.,an electric guitar) has an output quarter-inch TRS connector (e.g., amale TRS connector) that is plugged into the quarter-inch TRS connector(which may be, e.g., a female TRS connector) portion of the combo jack402, the analog audio signal from the external device may be receivedvia the “Inst In” line by the instrument buffer 1003.

The ADC 1004 may be implemented as a single ADC or as multiple ADCs. Forexample, the preamplifier 1001 may feed into a first ADC of the ADC 1004and the preamplifier 1002 may feed into a second ADC of the ADC 1004.The ADC(s) of ADC 1004 may be high-quality ADCs capable of outputting,for example, audio data at one or more speeds up to 96 kbits/second (oreven faster, if desired). A further ADC may be implemented by the CODEC1006 to convert analog audio output by the instrument buffer 1003, orsuch an ADC may be implemented separately from the CODEC 1006, betweenthe output of the instrument buffer 1003 and an input of the CODEC 1006.

The MCU 1005 may receive digital audio signals from the ADC 1004 (whichmay be digitized audio based on analog audio from the ADC 1004) as wellas digital audio signals from the CODEC 1006 (which may be digitizedaudio based on analog audio from the instrument buffer 1003). The MCU1005 may perform routing, digital signal processing, and/or mixing ofany received digital audio signals. For example, the MCU 1005 mayreceive digital audio signals from the ADC 1004, and forward thosedigital audio signals to the USB connector 111 and/or to the CODEC 1006.As another example, the MCU 1005 may receive digital audio signals fromthe CODEC 1006, and forward those digital audio signals to the USBconnector 111. The MCU 1005 may further perform digital signalprocessing on any of the digital audio signals it receives. For example,the MCU 1005 may comprise DSP circuitry for processing audio, forexample one or more equalizers such as a high pass/presence boostequalizer and/or a mode equalizer, a de-esser, a bass equalizer such asa bass tamer (which may be used to reduce the proximity effect), alimiter, a compressor, an automatic level control (ALC), and/or anyother digital signal processing techniques.

The MCU 1005 may further mix any of the digital audio signals that itreceives, and output a mixed version of those digital audio signals. Forexample, if the digital audio received by the MCU 1005 contains twochannels (e.g., left and right channels), the MCU 1005 may partially orfully mix those two channels before outputting the mixed audio to theUSB connector 111 and/or to the CODEC 1006. For example, the MCU 1005may output 96 k two-channel audio to the USB connector 111.

The CODEC 1006 may perform encoding, decoding, routing, and/or mixing ofdigital audio signals received from the ADC input connected to theinstrument buffer 1003 and from the MCU 1005. For example, the CODEC1006 may receive analog audio signals from the instrument buffer 1003,convert those analog audio signals into digital audio signals, andforward those digital audio signals to the MCU 1005. As another example,the CODEC 1006 may receive digital audio signals from the MCU 1005,convert those digital audio signals using its digital-to-analogconverter (DAC), and send the converted analog audio signals to the 3.5mm TRRS headphones connector 113. The CODEC 1006 may further convert anydigital audio signals to other digital audio signals, such as bymodifying how the digital audio signals are encoded. For example, theCODEC 1006 may up-convert or down-convert the bit rate of any digitalaudio signal it receives, or otherwise change the encoding format of anydigital audio signal it receives.

In operation, an analog audio signal generated by the microphonecartridge 100 (generated in response to sound detected by the microphonecartridge 100) may be amplified by the preamplifier 1001 and convertedto a digital audio signal by the ADC 1004, which may be sent to the MCU1005. Simultaneously with or at a different time from receiving theaudio from the microphone cartridge 101, analog audio may be received atthe MIC In line from the XLR connector 103 and/or at the Inst In linefrom the quarter-inch TRS connector 401. The MIC In audio may beamplified by the preamplifier 1002, digitized by the ADC 1004, and sentto the MCU 1005. The Inst In audio may be amplified by the instrumentbuffer 1003, digitized by the CODEC (or another ADC), and sent to theMCU 1005. Any of these analog and digital audio signals may besingle-channel or multi-channel (e.g., dual channel, such as left andright channels) audio signals. The MCU 1005 may receive any or all ofthe digital audio signals, process them such as by applying one or moredigital signal processing functions on them, and forward the processeddigital audio signals to the USB connector 111 and/or to the CODEC 1006as desired. The USB connector 111 may forward any of the receiveddigital audio signals to a device (e.g., the device 802, FIG. 8 ), andthe CODEC 1006 may convert any of the received digital audio signals toanalog audio signals (using its DAC) and forward those analog audiosignals to the 3.5 mm TRRS headphones connector for, e.g., monitoringpurposes. Where the circuitry 1000 receives multiple audio sources(e.g., from two or more of the mic cartridge 101, the XLR connector 103,or the quarter-inch TRS connector 401), the circuitry 1000 may maintaineach of these sources as separate audio channels. For example, audioreceived and digitized from the mic cartridge 101 may be a first digitalaudio channel, and audio digitized based on analog audio from the XLRconnector 103 or from the quarter-inch TRS connector 401 may be a seconddigital audio channel separate from the first digital audio channel.This separation of channels may be maintained in both the analog anddigital domains of the circuitry 1000. Thus, for example, if audio isreceived at the same time from both the mic cartridge 101 and from theXLR connector 103, each of those audio sources may be separatelyamplified and digitized by their respective ADCs and preamplifiers asseparate audio channels, separately processed and routed by the MCU asseparate digital audio channels, and maintained as separate digitalaudio channels when sent via the USB connector 111. The same may occurwhen audio from both the mic cartridge 101 and the quarter-inch TRSconnector is received by the circuitry 1000 at the same time. Moreover,the ADC 1004, the CODEC's 1006 ADC, and/or the MCU may label eachchannel of the digitized data by its source, such as with a channelidentifier unique to each channel. For example, each source's digitalaudio may include data (e.g., a multi-bit field of a header of a datapacket or frame that contains audio data for the channel, or as a packetor frame separate from the audio data) associated with and indicatingthe audio source. Thus, the device 802 that receives the various audiovia the USB connector 111 would be able to distinguish, based on thechannel identifiers, between the various audio sources and treat eachaudio source differently as desired. An example of this is discussedbelow with respect to FIGS. 11A and 11B.

The preamplifier 1002 (connected to the “MIC In” line) may provide powerto a device (such as another microphone) connected to the XLR connector103. For example, the preamplifier 1002 may provide direct-current (DC)voltage one two or more pins of the XLR connector 103, such as pins 2and 3. The DC voltage may be any desired voltage, such as 12 volts, or alarger or smaller voltage. Conveniently, the XLR-connected microphone orother device may use the power for its own operation (e.g., to power itsown active electronics), without the need for the external device tohave a battery or other separate power source. Provision of powerthrough the same XLR cable as the audio signal is known as phantompower.

Any portion of circuitry 1000 may be implemented, for example, as one ormore programmable gate arrays (PGAs), one or more application-specificintegrated circuits (ASICs), one or more commercial off-the-shelfintegrated circuits, and/or any other types of circuitry. For example,the MCU 1005 and/or the CODEC 1006 may be implemented as one or more PGAchips, one or more ASICs, one or more processors, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium such as one or more memories storinginstructions for execution by the one or more processors to perform thefunctions attributed to the MCU 1005 and/or the CODEC 1006, etc.

The circuitry 1000 may also include reverse (e.g., back-channel) audiomonitoring functionality, whereby the 3.5 mm headphones connector 113may allow a user to listen to audio received via the USB connector 111(e.g., from the device 802). For example, the MCU 1005 may receivedigital audio via the USB connector 111, perform digital signalprocessing on the received digital audio, and forward the processeddigital audio to the CODEC 1006, which may convert the digital audio toan analog audio signal that is sent to the 3.5 mm TRRS headphonesconnector 113.

FIG. 11A shows an example user interface 1100 that may be presented by adevice, such as the device 802, that may be connected to a microphone,such as the microphone 700 or 1200, in accordance with aspects describedherein. In the illustrated example, the device 802 may include or beconnected to a display device (such as a computer screen, tabletdisplay, phone display, etc.) that may cause the user interface 1100 tobe displayed. The device 802 may have one or more processors, as well asmemory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the device 802 to communicate with the microphone 700or 1200 via the USB connection, to present the user interface 1100 to auser of the device 802, and to perform audio processing (e.g., mixing)and/or other functionality as described herein.

The user interface 1100 includes an inputs/outputs portion 1101, a mixerportion 1102, and a recorder portion 1103. The inputs/outputs portion1101 may include one or more selectable representations (e.g., buttons,icons, windows, etc.) each representing a different audio source. In theillustrated example, the audio sources include SOURCE 1, SOURCE 2,SOURCE 3, and SOURCE 4, wherein the first three listed audio sources areindicated as being received via a USB connection. For example, SOURCE 1may be audio received via the USB connector 111 that was based on audiogenerated by the microphone cartridge 101, SOURCE 2 may be audioreceived via the USB connector 111 that was based on audio received bythe XLR connector 103, and SOURCE 3 may be audio received via the USBconnector 111 that was based on audio received by the quarter-inch TRSconnector 401 of the microphone circuitry 1000. The device 802, andspecifically the user interface 1100, may be able to distinguish betweenthe various audio sources received via the same USB connector 111, sincethe audio data from the various audio sources may be individuallylabeled with data identifying the source of the audio, as discussedabove. The inputs/outputs portion 1101 may also include one or moreselectable representations each representing a different output, shownby way of example as Main Output, Output 1, and Output 2. The user maybe able to define the names of the various inputs and outputs.

The mixer portion 1102 of the user interface 1100 may includerepresentations of one or more of the inputs and/or outputs that theuser selected from the inputs/outputs portion 1101. Each representationof a selected input or a selected output may be in a window or otherportion that includes the name of the input or output, a live metershowing the current audio signal strength for that input or output, anda user-selectable mute button. For example, the representation of Input1 includes a live meter 1105 and a mute button 1106. Each of therepresented inputs may also include a user-selectable gain control forthat input, such as gain control 1104 for Input 1. Each of therepresented inputs and outputs may further include a user-selectablesettings button, such as settings icon 1107, selection of which maycause the user interface 1100 to display further information and/orselectable options for the input or output. Additional mixing functionsmay be provided so that the user can mix the various inputs. Based onthe user's settings (for example, the gain control settings of thevarious selected inputs), the resulting combination of those inputs maybe provided to the Main Output, as shown on the right-hand side of FIG.11A. The recorder portion 1103 of the user interface 1100 may includeuser-selectable functionality that allows the user to record audio, suchas audio present at the Main Output.

FIG. 11B shows settings information 1150 that may be presented as partof the user interface 1100, such as in response to the user selectingthe settings icon 1107 of FIG. 11A. The settings information 1150 may bein the form of, for example, a pop-up window overlaying or next to theinformation of FIG. 11A, or displayed as a separate screen. The settingsinformation 1150 may include one or more user-selectable elements, suchas a control 1151 that allows the user to select between playback,balance, and mic modes, a microphone position control 1152 that allowsthe user to select between near and far DSP settings, an a voice tonecontrol 1153 that allows the user to select between dark, natural, andbright DSP settings. Any settings that the user sets via the userinterface 1100 may be sent to the controller 110 or the MCU 1005 tocause an update to microphone functionality, including for example, DSPparameters. For example, a “near” mode may be associated with a firstset of DSP parameter settings and a “far” mode may be associated with adifferent second set of DSP parameter settings. Also, the dark, natural,and bright voice tones may each be associated with different settings ofDSP parameters. Examples of such DSP parameters for which settings maybe provided may include high pass/presence boost equalization, modeequalization, de-essing, bass equalizing, bass taming, limiting,compression, and/or ALC. An indication of the microphone position modeand/or the voice tone setting may be sent by the device 802 to themicrophone 700 or 1200 via the USB connection. Alternatively, anindication of one or more DSP parameter settings associated with themicrophone position mode and/or the voice tone setting may be sent bythe device 802 to the microphone 700 or 1200 via the USB connection. Thecontroller 110 or the MCU 1005 may receive this indication and adjustthe settings of the DSP based on the indication. The DSP may then usethese adjusted settings when processing audio. In this way, the user maycontrol one or more settings of the microphone 700 or 1200.

Additional settings of the microphone 700 or 1200 that the user maycontrol using the settings information 1150 is the live meter behaviorof the microphone 700 or 1200. For example, the user interface 112 ofthe microphone (see, e.g., FIG. 7 or FIG. 12 ) may include one or morelights (e.g., light-emitting diodes (LEDs)) that can be used to displayinformation about the microphone and/or about the audio being handled bythe microphone. For example, the user interface 112 may display a livemeter of the energy or power of audio being handled by the microphone.The live audio intensity may be averaged over a sliding window of timeto provide a smoother (e.g., less spiky) visual indication. The userinterface 112 may include a plurality of LEDs, such as in a sequential(e.g., linear) arrangement, and the LEDs may be configurable to emitmultiple colors. The settings information 1150 may include auser-selectable control 1154 for turning on/off the live meteringfunction of the user interface 112 of the microphone. The settingsinformation 1150 may include a user-selectable control 1155 for turningon/off a night mode of the user interface, in which during the nightmode the LEDs may emit different colors or at different intensitiesappropriate for a dark environment (e.g., a dimmed output or a morereddened color scheme). The settings information 1150 may include auser-selectable control 1156 (e.g., a drop-down menu) for selecting alive meter color theme from amongst a plurality of color themes. Theplurality of color themes may be predetermined, and/or they may becustomized by the user, such as via a color-picker interface. Examplesof color themes for the live meter function include (for low/medium/highaudio intensity): green/yellow/red, purple/blue/green, lightgreen/yellow/pink, and/or any other combination of multiple colors thatthe LEDs are able to display. For example, the color theme may include afirst color, a second color different from the first color, and a thirdcolor different from the first color and from the second color. Whilethree-colors themes are discussed by way of example, the themes may haveany number of different colors, such as two different colors, threedifferent colors, four different colors, or more. The different colorsmay be associated with (and displayed at) different regions of the userinterface 112. For example, where the user interface is a left-rightlinear arrangement of LEDs 1302 (such as illustrated in FIGS. 13A-13C),one or more of the LEDs (e.g., LEDs 1302 a, 1302 b, 1302 c, 1302 d, and1302 e) on the left side may display green, one or more LEDs (e.g., LEDs1302 f, 1302 g, 1302 h, 1302 i, 1032 j, 1302 k, and 1302 m) at themiddle of the arrangement may display yellow, and one or more LEDs(e.g., LEDs 1302 n, 1302 p, 1302 q, and 1302 r) at the right side of thearrangement may be display red. The different colors may be distinct orthey may run smoothly into each other from one side to the other of theuser interface 112 without clear distinctions between the colors, suchas a rainbow does. Each meter color theme may also be associated with aparticular live meter mode (for example, Mode A or Mode B as discussedbelow with respect to FIGS. 14A and 14B). An indication of the selectedmeter color theme (or an indication of the colors to be used in thetheme), which may also include a selection of Mode A or Mode B livemeter mode, may be sent by the device 802 to the microphone 700 or 1200via the USB connector 111. The controller 110 or the MCU 1005 mayreceive this indication and cause the user interface 112 to display theindicated colors/theme.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an example microphone 1200 containingmicrophone circuitry, such as the circuitry 100, 400, or 1000 shown inFIG. 1, 4 , or 10. The microphone 1200 may include a body 1201, such asa housing. The body 1201 may be connected to a windscreen 1202 at oneend, and may include one or more connectors such as connectors 1203,1204, and 1205 at the other end. The connector 1203 may be, for example,the XLR connector 103, the quarter-inch TRS connector 401, or the combojack 402 that includes both the XLR connector 103 and the quarter-inchTRS connector 401. The connector 1204 may be, for example, the USBconnector 111. The connector 1205 may be, for example, the 3.5 mm TRRSheadphones connector 113. The body 1201 may further include the userinterface 112.

FIG. 13A is an exploded top-down view of various layers of an exampleuser interface (such as the user interface 112) that may be part of anyof the microphones described herein, such as part of the microphonesillustrated in FIG. 7 or 12 . The user interface 112 may be made from aplurality of stacked layers. For example, the user interface 112 mayinclude a first layer 1310 that includes a plurality of LEDs 1302 a,1302 b, 1302 c, 1302 d, 1302 e, 1302 f, 1302 g, 1302 h, 1302 i, 1302 j,1302 k, 1302 m, 1302 n, 1302 p, 1302 q, and 1302 r (collectivelyreferring to as LEDs 1302) or other lights mounted to a substrate 1301.The user interface 112 may include a second layer 1320 that includes amask 1303 (which blocks light from the LEDs 1302) having a light-passingportion 1304 (which allows at least some of the light from the LEDs 1302to pass through, and which may include a light diffusion material thatdiffuses the light). The user interface 112 may include a third layer1330 that includes one or more touch-sensitive portions (e.g.,capacitive touch-sensitive surfaces) such as touch-sensitive portions1305 a, 1305 b, and 1305 c. The touch-sensitive portions 1305 may bepartially or fully transparent to the light emitted by the LEDs 1302.Where the light-passing portion 1304 is not diffuse, the touch-sensitiveportions 1305 may be light-diffusing.

While sixteen LEDs 1302 are shown, any number of LEDs 1302 may be used.Also, while the LEDs 1302 are shown linearly arranged, they may bearranged in any manner desired, such as in a two-dimensional matrix orin a curved pattern. Each of the LEDs 1302 may be a multi-color LED, inthat each of the LEDs 1302 may be capable of displaying multipledifferent colors as desired. For example, each of the LEDs 1302 may beconfigurable to dynamically emit and change between various colors suchas (but not limited to) green, red, yellow, orange, blue, purple, pink,etc. For example, each LED 1302 may be made up of three smallerdedicated-color LEDs such as a red smaller LED, a green smaller LED, anda blue smaller LED, where the color emitted by the larger LED 1302 wouldresult from a mixture of the light intensities of the three smaller LEDcolor outputs.

FIG. 13B is an exploded side view of the layers of FIG. 13A. In theillustrated example, layer 1330 may be placed upon layer 1302, which maybe placed upon layer 1310. While a space is shown between each of thethree layers, this is for easier visualization and the layers may or maynot be touching one another. For example, the layer 1330 may be restingupon and in physical contact with the layer 1320, and the layer 1302 maybe resting upon and in physical contact with the layer 1310. While thelayers 1310, 1320, and 1330 are shown as flat layers, they may be curvedat least partially wrap around the body 701 of the microphone 700 or thebody 1201 of the microphone 1200. The layers 1310, 1320, and 1330 may beflexible so as to be wrappable around the body 701 or around the body1201, or the layers 1310, 1320, and 1330 may be inflexible andpre-curved or otherwise pre-shaped to conform with the curvature orother outer shape of the body 701 or the body 1201.

Each of the LEDs 1302 and touch-sensitive portions 1305 may becontrollable by the controller 110 or the MCU 1005. For example, thecontroller 110 or the MCU 1005 may control the color and timing of eachof the LEDs 1302, and the controller 110 or the MCU 1005 may receive anindication from any of the touch-sensitive portions 1305 that thetouch-sensitive portion 1305 is being touched, for how long, over whatarea or region, and/or at what pressure.

FIG. 13C is a top-down view of the layers of FIGS. 13A and 13B asassembled into the example user interface 112. The view in FIG. 13C isfrom the point of view “A” as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 13B. As canbe seen, each of the LEDs 1302 may be positioned to at least partiallyshine light through the light-passing portion 1304 and through one ofthe touch-sensitive portions 1305. By including the one or moretouch-sensitive portions 1305 layer over the LEDs 1302, and byresponding to user touch such as by changing which of, and how, the LEDs1302 emit light, this can give the user the experience of interactingwith the LEDs 1302. For example, if the user touches and releases (ortouches and holds) any of the touch-sensitive portions 1305, thecontroller 110 or the MCU 1005 may detect this based on signals from thetouch-sensitive portions 1305, and in response to these signals maymodify which LEDs 1302 light up, which colors they emit, and at whatbrightness they emit. For ease of reading and to avoid clutter, only LED1302 d is explicitly labeled by way of example in FIG. 13C. However, itwill be understood that all of the LEDs 1302 in FIG. 13C are the sameLEDs 1302 as illustrated in FIGS. 13A and 13B.

As an example, in response to the user touching and releasing (e.g.,tapping) any of the touch-sensitive portions 1305, the controller 110 orthe MCU 1005 may put the microphone into a mute mode, in which anydetected and/or received audio may be muted and not sent via the USBconnector 111. The controller 110 or the MCU 1005 may also cause one ormore, or even all, of the LEDs 1302 to produce a lighting pattern thatindicates mute mode, such as by flashing, or to staying constantly lit,or emitting some other pattern (e.g., lighting every other LED 1302). Asanother example, in response to the user touching and sliding from oneof the touch-sensitive portions 1305 to another of the touch-sensitiveportions 1305, the controller 110 or the MCU 1005 may interpret this asa gain (e.g., volume) adjustment command. Depending upon whether thegain adjustment is to increase or decrease gain, the LEDs 1302 may emitdifferent patterns. For example, if the user slides from touch-sensitiveportion 1305 a to touch-sensitive portion 1305 b, or fromtouch-sensitive portion 1305 a to touch-sensitive portion 1305 b andthen to touch-sensitive portion 1305 c, or from touch-sensitive portion1305 b to touch-sensitive portion 1305 c, then this may be interpretedas a gain-up adjustment, and the LEDs 1302 may change from lighting up afirst subset of the LEDs (e.g., 1302 a, 1302 b, 1302 c, and 1302 d) to alarger second subset of the LEDs (e.g., 1302 a, 1302 b, 1302 c, 1302 d,1302 e, 1302 f, 1302 g, and 1302 h) depending upon how far the userslides. Likewise, if the user slides from touch-sensitive portion 1305 cto touch-sensitive portion 1305 b, or from touch-sensitive portion 1305c to touch-sensitive portion 1305 b and then to touch-sensitive portion1305 a, or from touch-sensitive portion 1305 b to touch-sensitiveportion 1305 a, then this may be interpreted as a gain-down adjustment,and the LEDs 1302 may change from lighting up a first subset of the LEDs(e.g., 1302 a, 1302 b, 1302 c, 1302 d, 1302 e, 1302 f, 1302 g, and 1302h) to a smaller second subset of the LEDs (e.g., 1302 a, 1302 b, 1302 c,and 1302 d) depending upon how far the user slides. Other touch gesturesmay be used for mute or gain adjustment, as desired.

As another example, in response to the user touching and sliding fromone of the touch-sensitive portions 1305 to another of thetouch-sensitive portions 1305, the controller 110 or the MCU 1005 mayinterpret this as a balance adjustment command. For example, if the userslides left, then this may adjust balance toward the left audio channel,and if the user slides right, then this may adjust balance toward theright audio channel. The balance may be indicated by which one more LEDs1302 are lit up, where centered balance may be indicated by just themiddle (or middle two) LEDs 1302 of the user interface 112 being lit up,and an adjustment left or right corresponding to lighting up one or moreLEDs 1302 to the left or right of the center of the user interface 112.

In general, the LEDs 1302 may indicate a variety of aspects associatedwith the microphone, such as microphone state (e.g., muted or not muted)and microphone adjustment (e.g., gain adjustment), and these indicationsmay be responsive to user touch input to one or more of thetouch-sensitive portions 1305. Moreover, the LEDs 1302 may provide alive meter function for the audio being detected and/or received by themicrophone, and/or for the audio being sent by the microphone to anexternal device such as via the USB connector 111. As described below,the LEDs 1302 may operate in a plurality of different live meter modes.

FIG. 14A illustrates example operation of the user interface of FIG. 13Cin a first live meter mode, referred to herein as “Mode A.” In Mode A,the LEDs 1302 may be used to dynamically illustrate the audio level ofaudio being received and/or detected by the microphone, or of audiobeing sent externally by the microphone such as via the USB connector111. The audio level may start from one end of the linear arrangement ofLEDs 1302 (such as from the left side of the user interface 112) as thelowest audio level, and progress as a lit-up bar of LEDs 1302 toward theother end (e.g., the right side of the user interface 112) that becomeslonger as the audio level increases. For example, FIG. 14A shows theseven left-most LEDs 1302 lit up (illustrated via cross-hatching) forthe current audio level. If the audio level increases, then additionalLEDs 1302 (e.g., the left-most eight, nine, or more LEDs 1302) may lightup. If the audio level decreases, then fewer LEDs 1302 (e.g., theleft-most six, five, or fewer LEDs 1302) may light up. The audio levelmay be “live,” in that the indicated level is associated with thecurrent instant level of the audio or with a filtered version of thecurrent audio level. For example, the live meter at any given time mayindicate the average of the audio levels over the last N samples (whereN may be any number of samples). This type of filtering is sometimesreferred to as a moving-window low-pass filter, where the length of thewindow is N. In Mode A, the indicated audio level may be for a singlechannel (e.g., for just the left audio channel or just the right audiochannel) or for a combination of a plurality of channels (e.g., anaverage or other combination of the levels of the left audio channel andthe right audio channel).

FIG. 14B illustrates example operation of the user interface of FIG. 13Cin a second live meter mode, referred to herein as “Mode B.” In Mode B,the LEDs 1302 may be used to dynamically and simultaneously illustratethe audio levels of two audio channels being received and/or detected bythe microphone, or of two audio channels being sent externally by themicrophone such as via the USB connector 111. In Mode B, the userinterface 112 may be thought of as being functionally divided into twoportions (e.g., regions), such as a left region and right region. Thedivision between the two regions is illustrated as dividing line 1501 inFIG. 14B. Dividing line 1501 is not necessarily a physical or realelement of the user interface, and is shown merely to help explain howMode B operates. In the shown example, one of the regions may indicatethe audio level of a first audio channel (such as the left audiochannel) and the other of the regions may indicate the audio level of asecond audio channel (such as the right audio channel). The audio levelsfor the two channels may start from the dividing line 1501 as the lowestaudio level, and progress as lit-up bars of LEDs 1302 in oppositedirections toward their respective ends of the user interface 112 thatbecomes longer as the audio levels increase. For example, FIG. 14B showsthe audio level of the left channel with five LEDs 1302 lit up(illustrated via cross-hatching) and the audio level of the rightchannel with three LEDs 1302 lit up. For each channel, if the audiolevel increases, then additional LEDs 1302 may light up in thecorresponding region. If the audio level decreases, then fewer LEDs 1302may light up in the corresponding region. As in Mode A, the audio levelsfor Mode B may be “live,” in that the indicated level is associated withthe current instant level of the audio or with a filtered version of thecurrent audio level. For example, the live meter for each channel (andfor each region of the user interface 112) at any given time mayindicate the average of the audio levels over the last N samples (whereN may be any number of samples). This type of filtering is sometimesreferred to as a moving-window low-pass filter, where the length of thewindow is N.

The controller 110 or the MCU 1005 may select which live meter mode(Mode A or Mode B) the user interface 112 operates in, and may controlthe LEDs 1302 in accordance with the selected live meter mode. The livemeter mode of the user interface 112 may be selected based on user input(e.g., a double-tap on the touch-sensitive region(s) 1305 may switchbetween live meter modes), or automatically selected based on how manychannels of audio are detected, received, and/or sent (such as via theUSB connector 111) by the microphone, or based on a signal from thedevice 802 via the USB connector 111, which may be based on userinteraction with the user interface 1100 displayed by the device 802.For example, if only one audio channel is being detected or received bythe microphone (or being sent by the microphone), then live meter Mode Amay be selected and operated. However, if two (e.g., left and right)audio channels are being detected or received by the microphone (orbeing sent by the microphone), then live meter Mode B may be selectedand operated. The microphone may switch between Mode A and Mode Bdynamically over time based on the user input or automatically based onthe number of audio channels being detected, received, and/or sent bythe microphone.

While a USB connection is discussed between the microphone 700 or 1200and the device 802, other types of wired or wireless connections may beused. For example, the connection between microphone 700 or 1200 anddevice 802 may instead be a wireless connection, such as a Wi-Ficonnection, a BLUETOOTH connection, a near-field connection (NFC),and/or an infrared connection. Where the connection is wireless,microphone 700 or 1200 and device 802 may include a wirelesscommunications interface. Also, while particular types of connectors arediscussed (XLR connectors, USB connectors, TRS connectors, and TRRSconnectors), these are by way of example only; this description is notlimited to these particular types of connectors, and any other types ofconnectors may be used in their place, as desired.

Although examples are described above, features and/or steps of thoseexamples may be combined, divided, omitted, rearranged, revised, and/oraugmented in any desired manner. Various alterations, modifications, andimprovements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Suchalterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part ofthis description, though not expressly stated herein, and are intendedto be within the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, theforegoing description is by way of example only, and is not limiting.

1. A microphone comprising: a housing comprising a first connection portand a second connection port; a microphone element; a first preamplifierconfigured to generate an amplified first analog audio signal based onsound received by the microphone element; a first analog-to-digitalconverter configured to generate, based on the amplified first analogaudio signal, a first digital audio channel; a second preamplifierconfigured to generate an amplified second analog audio signal based onan analog audio signal received via the first connection port; a secondanalog-to-digital converter configured to generate, based on theamplified second analog audio signal, a second digital audio channel;and a controller configured to process one or both of the first digitalaudio channel or the second digital audio channel, and to send, via thesecond connection port, the first digital audio channel and the seconddigital audio channel as separate channels.
 2. The microphone of claim1, wherein the first connection port comprises one or both of an XLRconnector or a quarter-inch TRS connector, and wherein the secondconnection port comprises a universal serial bus (USB) connector.
 3. Themicrophone of claim 1, wherein the first connection port comprises acombo jack that comprises an XLR connector and a quarter-inch TRSconnector, wherein the second preamplifier is configured to receive ananalog audio signal from the XLR connector, and wherein the microphonecomprises a third preamplifier configured to receive an analog audiosignal from the quarter-inch TRS connector.
 4. The microphone of claim1, wherein the first connection port comprises a combo jack thatcomprises an XLR connector and a quarter-inch TRS connector, wherein thesecond preamplifier is configured to receive an analog audio signal fromthe quarter-inch TRS connector, and wherein the microphone comprises athird preamplifier configured to receive an analog audio signal from theXLR connector.
 5. The microphone of claim 1, wherein the housingcomprises a user interface configured to display at least one live audiometer, wherein the microphone is selectively operable in a first liveaudio meter mode and in a second live audio meter mode, and wherein: inthe first live audio meter mode, the controller is configured to causethe user interface to display a first live audio meter associated withone or both of the first audio channel or the second audio channel, andin the second live audio meter mode, the controller is configured tocause the user interface to display a second live audio meter associatedwith the first audio channel and a third live audio meter associatedwith the second audio channel.
 6. The microphone of claim 4, wherein theuser interface comprises a sequence of light-emitting diodes, andwherein: in the first live audio meter mode, the controller isconfigured to cause the user interface to display the first live audiometer using the sequence of light-emitting diodes, and in the secondlive audio meter mode, the controller is configured to cause the userinterface to display the second live audio meter using a first subset ofthe sequence of light-emitting diodes and the third live audio meterusing a second subset, different from the first subset, of the sequenceof light-emitting diodes.
 7. The microphone of claim 1, wherein thehousing comprises a user interface, and wherein the controller isconfigured to cause the user interface to display information using acolor theme that is selected based on a signal received via the secondconnection port.
 8. The microphone of claim 1, wherein the controllercomprises a digital signal processor configured to process the one orboth of the first digital audio channel or the second digital audiochannel using at least one digital signal processing technique.
 9. Themicrophone of claim 1, wherein the first digital audio channel comprisesa first channel identifier and the second digital audio channelcomprises a second channel identifier.
 10. The microphone of claim 1,further comprising: a 3.5 mm TRRS connector; and a coder-decoder (CODEC)configured to decode one or both of the first digital audio channel orthe second digital audio channel into analog audio directed to the 3.5mm TRRS connector.
 11. A method comprising: generating, based on soundreceived by a microphone element of a microphone, a first analog audiosignal; receiving, via a first connection port of the microphone, asecond analog audio signal; amplifying the first analog audio signal;converting the amplified first analog audio signal to a first digitalaudio channel; amplifying the second analog audio signal; converting theamplified second analog audio signal to a second digital audio channel;processing one or both of the first digital audio channel or the seconddigital audio channel; and sending, via a second connection port of themicrophone, the first digital audio channel and the second digital audiochannel as separate channels.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein thefirst connection port comprises one or both of an XLR connector or aquarter-inch TRS connector, and wherein the second connection portcomprises a universal serial bus (USB) connector.
 13. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising: operating a user interface of themicrophone in a first live audio meter mode comprising displaying afirst live audio meter associated with one or both of the first audiochannel or the second audio channel, and operating the user interface tooperate in a second live audio meter mode comprising displaying a secondlive audio meter associated with the first audio channel and a thirdlive audio meter associated with the second audio channel.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, wherein the user interface comprises a sequence oflight-emitting diodes, and wherein: the operating the user interface inthe first live audio meter mode comprises displaying the first liveaudio meter using the sequence of light-emitting diodes, and theoperating the user interface in the second live audio meter modecomprises displaying the second live audio meter using a first subset ofthe sequence of light-emitting diodes and the third live audio meterusing a second subset, different from the first subset, of the sequenceof light-emitting diodes.
 15. The method of claim 13, further comprisingselecting the first live audio meter mode or the second live audio metermode based on a signal received via the second connection port.
 16. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising: receiving a signal via thesecond connection port; and displaying, by a user interface of themicrophone, information using a color theme that is selected based onthe signal received via the second connection port.
 17. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the processing the one or both of the first digitalaudio channel or the second digital audio channel comprises performingat least one digital signal processing technique on the one or both ofthe first digital audio channel or the second digital audio channel. 18.The method of claim 11, further comprising adding, prior to the sending,a first channel identifier to the first digital audio channel and asecond channel identifier to the second digital audio channel.
 19. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising: decoding one or both of thefirst digital audio channel or the second digital audio channel intodecoded analog audio; and sending the decoded analog audio to a 3.5 mmTRRS connector of the microphone.
 20. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising: receiving, via a third connection port of the microphone, athird analog audio signal; amplifying the third analog audio signal;converting the amplified third analog audio signal to a third digitalaudio channel; processing the third digital audio channel; and sending,via the second connection port of the microphone, the third digitalaudio channel as a channel separate from the first digital audio channeland the second digital audio channel.